Sandigan denies appeal of ex-Tarlac governor

The Sandiganbayan affirmed yesterday its earlier decision convicting former Tarlac governor Mariano Un Ocampo III and a private co-defendant for two counts of malversation of public funds involving a P56-million loan to a foundation in 1988.

In a six-page resolution, the anti-graft body’s fifth division, chaired by acting Presiding Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, said the three sets of documentary evidence which Ocampo and Andres Flores submitted to appeal their conviction would not change the decision against them.

The case stemmed from the loan which the Tarlac provincial government, then under Ocampo’s leadership, granted to the Lingkod Tarlac Foundation Inc. (LTFI), of which Ocampo was the board chairman and a trustee and Flores an officer.

The documentary evidence supposedly showed that Ocampo had resigned as chairman and trustee prior to his signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the foundation on Aug. 8, 1988.

The fifth division stood on its earlier decision which it said was "anchored on the finding of gross negligence amounting to bad faith of an accountable officer…" – Jose Rodel Clapano, Benjie Villa